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National | Department of Internal Affairs

Baby naming

Forget about naming your baby 'Justice', as it's the name most commonly rejected by the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) in recent years.

It joins a series of baby names that have been rejected, including Princess, Royal, Major, Duke and Bishop.

The names aren't banned specifically, but if parents can't justify a name that could also be mistaken for a title, DIA has the right to reject the name under legislation that came into effect in 1995.

The law also states that a name must be between 1 and 100 characters in length, so if one wanted to name their child after the longest place name in the world, they could, as it contains just 85 letters.

After Justice, King was the most frequently rejected name, but it seems if the names are translated into Māori, you won't have any problems.

Reporter: Piripi Taylor.